244 



THE AGRICULTURAL XEWS. 



Auia'sT 10. 1918. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE POSSIBILITY OF INCREASED 



PRODUCTION OF SUGAR IN 



INDIA 



An in'.tresting note by Dr. C. A. Barber, un the pofsi- 

 bility of increidng the production of sugar in India, has 

 been published by the Agricultural Department, Madras. 



As is well known, India haa been importing increasing 

 .luantities of sugar daring recent years, the annual total being 

 nearly 1,000,000 tons. Before the war thi> im.ported sugar 

 chiefly came from Austria. More recently Mauritius largely 

 supplied the Indian market, but at present the imported 

 sugar comes almost exclusively from .Java. The question 

 Dr. Barber raises is whether India, taking advantage of the 

 world's .shortage of sugar and the increased price resuliing 

 therefrom, can herself produce enough sugar for her own 

 consumption, and even in the future become an e.xporting 

 country, as she once was. 



In the first place it is not an easy matter to start a sugar 

 factory, and several years must elapse before such an enter- 

 prise can be considered to be placed on a firm foundation. 

 Sugar making nn modern lines must be considered to a large 

 extent as a new industrial enterprise in India. A vital 

 question as to its success is the price of sugar after the war. 

 Dr. Barber thinks that it will take many years before the 

 price sinks to the pre-war level, if it ever .loes, for the 

 following reasons: (1) becau.se there is a constantly increas- 

 ing consumption of sugar in all countries, which he regards 

 as likely to be permanent; (i) because it seems probable that 

 the British Government will in future take steps to prevent 

 the free dumping of sugar on the markets of the F.mpire by 

 the countries at present at war with us; (3) because the 

 particular 'area where beet is grown in Kurope has 

 antTered immensely by the great and calculated destruction of 

 sugar factories there during this war: and (4) that, with the 

 exception of (."uba, it is not likely that there will be any 

 immediate great extension of the area under sugar-cane in 



the tropics. 



With regard to the ijuestion of sugarcane cultivation in 

 India, it is to be noticed that the two great sugarcane tracts 

 in that country differ fundamentally. The first region consists 

 of Madras, Mysore, the lower parts of Bombay, the Central 

 Provinces, Assam, and Burma. In the main this tract is 

 « -within the tropics, and thick tropical canes can be grown 

 there to maturity, a.s in -lava or the West Indies. The second 

 region is extra-tropical, including the alluvial plains of the 

 Ganges and Indus, and extending into the north of the 

 Central Provinces and Bombay. In this region sugar-cane 

 cultivation is at present confined to thin, hardy, indigenous 

 varieties, generally unsuited for the economic production of 

 sngar. In fact, this region may be called pro[)erly the 

 wheat region of India, and it is a curious fact that at least 

 90 per cent, of the acreage under cane in India is to be 

 found in this apjiarcntly unsuitable tract. The canes grown 

 in this region arc unsuitable, as is stated above, for the pro- 

 duction of crystal sugar. 



A second difficulty also in the way of the extension ot 

 sugar making in India is that the people prefer the extremely 

 impure form of sugar known as jaggery or gur, which is pre- 

 pared from the poor canes so extensively cultivated, (jur iiiak- 

 ing can be conducted by anyone who has the canes growing: 

 accurate tests regarding ripeness are nnnecesaary: no capital is 

 reijuired: and the cultivation of the canes and tlie making of 

 jaggery can be discontinued at any time without loss. 



On the other hand, sugar making on modern lines requires 

 large capital and the combination of many growers, and it 

 can only be instituted after considerable preparation, and . 

 cannot be discontinued without serious financial loss. 



Another difficulty with regard to the extension of cane- 

 sugar making in India is tlie competition with other crops. 

 In fact, sugar-cane growing depends on the relative profit- 

 ableness of the crops now being grown compared with 

 sugar-cane. 



Madras, for instance, can grow sugarcane as well as any 

 average place in the tropics. Irrigation however is rei|uired, 

 and thus irrigated crops, chiefly rice, enter into competition 

 with the cane. Bice is perhaps the easiest crop to grow in 

 this Province while sugarciue is one of the most laborious. 

 It is not therefore likely that sugar-cane will replace lice to 

 any large extent. 



With regard to Mysore, which is not a rice country. 

 Dr. Barber thinks it not impossible that with the 

 extension of irrigation, sugar factories might be profitably 

 started there. 



In Bombay, where excellent cam- crops of rich .sucrDse 

 content are raised, it might not be difficult to extend largely 

 the cultivation of sugar cane, if the capital is available. 



There is a reasonable hope that a great deal vczte sugar- 

 cane than the present extremely small amount will be grown 

 in the near future in the southern part of the Central 

 Provinces, which is well adapted to the growth of thick 

 tropical varieties of cane, but Dr. Barber does not cowsidet 

 that any large extension of improved varieties of sugar-cane 

 can be looked for in Bengal. 



There are large unoccupied areas of land in lower Assam 

 on both sides of the lirahmaputra, which wouli seem to be 

 well suited for the growing of sugarcane. An experiment 

 on a large scale has been made in this direction by the 

 Government, and it is evident that, with certain precaution", 

 excellent canes can be grown over large areas, and the 

 prospect is distinctly encouraging. 



In Bihar there are a number of sugar-cane factories, in 

 the main working successfully. The chief need in that 

 Province seems to be the introduction of superior varieties of 

 cane, and the improvement of the local methods of agriculture. 

 With regard to the Tnited Provinces and the Punjab, 

 there does not seem to be much prospect of instituting sugar 

 factories under the present conditions. The canes grown in 

 these regions are exceedingly thin and fibrous, the yield per 

 acre is small, and the percentage of the juice is often low. 



There are large areas in Upper, Middle, and Lower 

 Burma, where first class canes can be (|uite easily grown. 

 There is any amount of uncultivated land available for the 

 growth of sugar-cane, so much so that there is no part of 

 India which can compare with liurini as a po.ssible place 

 for the installation of cane-sugar factories. The region 

 however is but thinly populated, and labour would have to 

 be introduced. At present everything connected with the 

 sugar cane industry in P.urma is on an extremely primitive 

 footing, but cane cultivation is being considerably extended. 



SUGAR FACTORY RESULTS IN 



MAURITIUS. 



The sugar factories of Mauritius, like those of Hawaii, 

 have adopted a system of mutual control, whereby the various 

 factories can conipare the results obtained on the year's 

 working. The sheet of such results on the working of 

 twenty six factories for the crop of li)lG, published by the 

 Societc des Chemistcs de Maurice, has recently been received 

 at this Office. It contains a volume of statistics, some items 



